


The Emerald City Coffee Shop

by cmk418



Category: Oz (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27928840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cmk418/pseuds/cmk418
Summary: Sean notices a new coffee place on his route to Lardner. Tim is the owner of the coffee shop.
Relationships: Sean Murphy/Original Male Character, Tim McManus/Sean Murphy





	The Emerald City Coffee Shop

Sean drove past the non-descript white building every day for the past six months on his way to Lardner. It was just another storefront on a street full of them. One day, he got caught by someone in front of him trying to parallel park. Rather than dash around them to get to work, he sat in his car and took in his surroundings. The white building had gotten a coat of paint and there was now stenciled in green lettering that read, “Emerald City Coffee Shop”.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he mumbled under his breath. A car horn sounded and Sean saw that the road ahead was now clear.

The next week, Sean woke up extra early for his work shift. He parked in a spot near the coffee shop and walked inside.

It was as if he’d been transported back to 1973. The décor was so similar to that in the diner that Tim’s father ran. A soundtrack of classic rock played softly through the speakers overhead. 

“Be right with you,” came from the kitchen. Tim’s voice. He knew it without seeing the bald-headed man emerge from the back with a tray of cookies in hand.

 _Holy crap_ , Sean thought, and then said aloud, “Good morning, Mister McManus. Can I have a coke?”

Tim set down the tray and gave him a big smile from across the counter. “I think you have me confused with my father.”

“You’ve got to admit. This is just like your dad’s diner.”

“Well, we’re not serving real food here. Yet. I didn’t want to put in the heavy equipment. I just wanted to be a place where people could stop and get a cup of coffee.”

“Break room sludge isn’t enough for them?”

“Sometimes you’ve just got to get away.”

“So they come here and you get the gossip of everything that’s been going on with Beecher and O’Reily and Poet since you left Oz.”

“That’s a side benefit, I’ll admit.”

“Why this?”

“Devlin made it so no correctional facility in the State of New York would hire me.”

“You could have gone elsewhere. You did it before,” Sean tried to keep the feelings of betrayal out of his voice, but those years that Tim had gone away to college had crept in unexpectedly.

The quiet “No, I couldn’t” caught his attention and brought him back to reality.

Sean looked at Tim. “So is it just you here?”

“I’ve got a couple of teenagers that come in during the afternoon and help out. Their parents work at Lardner.”

“Kind of like us, back in the day.”

“Exactly. Do you remember my dad teaching us how to make coffee?”

“Of course. The trick is precise measurements.” 

“He would eyeball that coffee pot and that measure until it was perfect. Some days it would take longer than others, but on the whole, he did make a damn fine cup of coffee.”

“I guess the coffee at Oz was a rude awakening.”

“Actually, college was. The pot in the dorm was very rarely cleaned between uses and depending on the maker, it was either too weak or too strong or sometimes they’d just go ahead and use the same grounds over again.”

“Sacrilege.”

“I almost had dad send money for a coffee fund.”

“Well, let’s see what Tim McManus has learned of the fine art of coffee making.”

“You really want something?”

“This is a coffee shop, isn’t it?”

“Okay, but don’t ask for one of those frou-frou drinks. We don’t have them here.”

“I think my body would reject a frou-frou drink after all the diesel fuel I’ve tasted over the years.”

“I think you’ll find this delightfully unleaded.”

“Delightfully.”

“Yes.”

Tim handed him a cup of coffee. Sean took a sip. “It’s good.”

“So, do you have time to…?”

“Not this morning. I’m going to be late for my shift as is.” He didn’t have to start for another half hour, but sitting with Tim in the weird intimacy of an empty coffee shop, was making him feel a bit nervous.

“Oh, so I should probably have made that to go,” Tim reached for a Styrofoam cup and poured another cup of coffee for Sean. “Here you go. First one’s on the house.”

“Thanks, Tim. I’ll see you.”

Over the course of the next few weeks, Sean spent time at the coffee shop. He’d come in there in the morning before work and get a cup to go. He didn’t mind Tim’s coffee. In fact, he wouldn’t have minded Tim’s coffee in the coffeemaker at Sean’s apartment every morning. 

Sean also came by during his lunch hour. Sometimes Tim would have a customer, but it was best if he didn’t. 

One day before he left work at lunchtime, Claire stopped him. “Why have you been so unsociable lately?”

Sean laughed. He didn’t think of himself of ever having been particularly sociable. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that lunchtime hits and you’re not here.” She gave him a slight smile. “Oh! You’re having a nooner. Good for you, Murphy.”

Sean shook his head. “I am not having a nooner.” _Much as I wouldn’t mind it_ , he silently added. “I’m just going for coffee.”

“There’s coffee in the breakroom. Jenkins made it today, I think, so it doesn’t completely suck.”

“Yeah. Well, a friend of mine opened a new coffee shop in the area so I go and offer him some support.”

“Sure.”

“I do. You might want to check it out. It’s called the…”

“Emerald City Coffee Shop. Yeah, I’ve seen it. I try to steer clear of places with that name. I’m not sure I’d be welcomed there.”

“You bring in a story about Beecher and you’ll be welcomed. And the coffee isn’t bad.”

“I’m not worried about being bad. I’m worried about it being spit in.”

“Tim’s not going to hold a grudge.”

“Ha! Seriously, Murphy, you’ve got it bad for this guy if you can’t see that.”

“He asked me about you the other day.”

“Really?”

He’d actually asked if Claire had taken it down a notch since the baby, something that Sean saw as good progress since he called her by name and seemed genuinely interested. 

“Really. He wanted to know about Lily.”

“Do you want to see another picture? I have one on my phone.” Sean knew from experience that once Claire brought out the phone, he’d never get away, so he resigned himself to sitting in the break room for the remainder of the hour.

The next morning, Tim handed him his coffee without a word. 

Not wanting to deal with Tim’s drama, Sean went to a restaurant near the prison with some of the other guards at lunchtime. They talked about things other than prison life and it felt good. A younger CO- and didn’t they all seem younger these days- named Jason Emery seemed to take an interest in him. They spent most of the lunch hour chatting about a new Bourne movie that was going to be coming out that Friday and before he realized it, Sean had a date for the weekend.

Sean steered clear of the Emerald City Coffee Shop for a few days, then on Friday afternoon, he broke. There was an unfamiliar girl at the counter when he came in.

“Cup of coffee please,” he said, taking a seat at the counter. He didn’t see Tim right away. He took a sip of the coffee and then asked, “Is the manager here?”

The girl turned pale. “There’s nothing wrong with the coffee, is there? I tried to make sure everything was exact, but I might have added a little more coffee than it called for.”

“The coffee’s fine. It’s actually better than Tim’s but don’t tell him I said that.”

“Don’t tell who you said what,” Tim said, coming through the door. He spied Sean at the counter. “On second thought, Marissa, don’t believe a word he tells you.”

“He’s an incredible manager,” Sean replied with a wink. Marissa smiled.

“Well, she already knows that. Where have you been? I was pretty close to asking a couple of COs that came in this morning if anyone had been shanked recently.”

“Nothing like ruining someone’s breakfast with talk of work, much less someone they don’t really know getting hurt.”

“I could have asked Howell, I suppose.”

“Claire came in? She didn’t mention it.”

“On Wednesday. And showed me seventy-three pictures of her spawn.”

“Only seventy-three?”

“It was like going frame-by-frame through a stop motion video.”

“Cute kid though.”

“Eh. I’ve seen cuter. Hey, what are you doing after work tonight? Wanna come over and watch a little basketball?”

 _Shit_ , thought Sean. _Of all the crappy timing_. “I can’t. I sort of made plans with some friends from work.”

“What are you doing?”

“Seeing a movie.”

“That’s weird. I remember at Oz we would go out for drinks sometimes, but never to the movies. Do they bring their wives?”

“I hope not.”

“What movie?”

“I am not telling you what movie.”

“Why the hell not?”

Sean lowered his voice. “Because I’m going on a date for the first time in eight months and I don’t need you crashing it.”

Tim started filling up a napkin holder that was on the counter next to Sean. “Well, good for you, Sean. That’s really… great.”

“I’m halfway surprised that Howell didn’t tell you.”’

“How the fuck does Howell know?”

“She guessed. And may have actually helped set it up. It’s one of those things when you know two people are queer and single, you try to set them up.”

“Howell knows you’re gay? Did she guess that too?” Sean was grateful that the coffee shop was nearly empty because Tim’s voice had gotten considerably louder since they began.

“She’s more observant than you… give her credit for. I’ve got to get back.”

“Sure. Have a nice weekend.”

“You too.”

Monday afternoon found Sean back at the coffee shop. “Let me guess. He made you breakfast,” Tim said, placing a cup of coffee on the counter in front of Sean.

“How’d you know?” Sean asked.

Tim stopped in his tracks. “Really?”

“No, I had a dentist appointment this morning.” 

“Ugh. Anything serious?”

“Just a cleaning.” Sean flashed a grin at Tim.

“Nice.”

“So, I came here to ruin their handiwork.” He raised the coffee mug in a silent toast, then took a sip.

The bell above the door tinkled and then Sean heard, “I thought I’d find you here.”

He turned to face Jason. “Hi.”

“So, this is the place you told me about. It looks like something out of history.”

“It is,” Tim said.

Sean turned to make introductions. “Tim McManus, Jason Emery.” 

“Nice to meet you,” Jason said.

Tim nodded.

“So… Emerald City. Does that mean you’re a Friend of Dorothy?”

“Tim’s not-“

“Can I get you something?” Tim asked Jason.

“A grande cappuccino.”

“How about a coffee?”

“Yeah. Okay. Sure. Coffee’s fine. “

Tim poured a cup of coffee and set it in front of Jason. 

Jason took a sip. “Not bad. Better than we’ve got at Lardner, that’s for sure.” Jason looked over at Sean. “You come here every day for coffee?”

“Sometimes he comes here twice a day.”

“For coffee,” Jason said. He sounded like he was having a hard time wrapping his mind around the concept. He looked from Sean to Tim and then back to Sean again. “Oh.” Jason set his coffee cup back down on the counter. “What do I owe you?”

“I’ve got this,” said Sean. It was the least he could do.

“I’ll see you back at work,” Jason mumbled and then he left.

“Nice guy. Bright. I can see why you like him,” said Tim.

“Yeah, well…”

Tim poured Sean another cup of coffee. “You know the hardest part for me when I got canned? Not being able to see you every day. When this place became available, I knew I had to have it and I knew it had to have this name. I wanted you to find me again.”

“You could have called.”

“It wouldn’t have been the same. Or maybe it would have. And that’s what’s been bugging me. I don’t think I want things to be the same between us anymore.”

Sean’s phone beeps at him. “Crap. I have to go back.”

“Come to my place tonight.”

“Yeah. Okay.” As he walked out the door of the coffee shop, Sean mentally told himself not to get his hopes up.

Tuesday morning, Sean was awakened by an obnoxious beeping sound. His arm flailed, connecting with something solid.

“Ow,” said Tim.

“What time is it?”

“Four a.m.”

“Too early.”

“When do you normally get up?”

“Four-thirty. And that’s just so I can see you.”

“I’m flattered. Come into the kitchen. You can see me now.”

Sean groaned and rolled out of bed. “Are you going to make coffee?”

“Here?”

“Yeah. I vaguely remember you offering to cook waffles.”

“Okay.” Tim pulled a box out of the freezer and dropped two frozen waffles in the toaster. “I would have had to wake up at three to make the real ones and I wanted more than two hours of sleep.”

Sean smiled. “I can make waffles. My apartment. This weekend. You make the coffee.”

“Deal.”


End file.
